Wangtianmen mountain
Tang Libai
Tianmen interrupted the opening of the Chu River,
Clear water flows eastward behind this.
Green hills on both sides of the strait are opposite.
Lonely sails come from the sun.
[Notes]
Tianmen Mountain: Located in the southwest of Anhui Province, on the bank of the Yangtze River in dangtu county. It is called Xiliangshan in the north and Liangdongshan in the south. The two mountains face each other across the river and look like portals, so they are called "Tianmen".
Chu River: refers to the Yangtze River. The middle reaches of the Yangtze River in ancient times belonged to Chu State, so it was called "Chu River".
At this point, the Yangtze River flows eastward to the vicinity of Tianmen Mountain and turns northward.
Return: that is, detour.
Out: outstanding.
The edge of the sun: the horizon.
[Poetry translation, poetry]
Tianmen Mountain is divided into two mountains by the Yangtze River. Qinghe flows east here and suddenly turns a corner to flow north. The green hills on both sides of the strait are opposite, and a leaf boat comes leisurely from the distance where the water meets the sky, as if from the horizon.
[Appreciation]
Tianmen Mountain is the collective name of Liangdong Mountain (called Wang Boshan in ancient times) in dangtu county, Anhui Province and West Liangshan Mountain in Hexian County. The confrontation between the two mountains and the river is like a natural gateway, and the situation is very dangerous, hence the name "Tianmen". The word "Wang" in the title of the poem shows the magnificent scenery overlooking Tianmen Mountain. Many historical annotation books often misunderstand poetry because they don't understand the foothold of "hope".
Tianmen Mountain is facing Jiajiang River, and it is inseparable from the Yangtze River. The front picture of the poem begins with the relationship between "Jiang" and "Mountain". The first sentence "Tianmen breaks the Chu River" focuses on the majestic momentum of the eastward flowing Chu River (a section of the Yangtze River flowing through the old Chu land) breaking through Tianmen. It gives people rich associations: Tianmen Mountain and Tianmen Mountain were originally a whole, blocking the turbulent river. Due to the impact of the surging waves of the Chu River, Tianmen was knocked open and interrupted, becoming two mountains. This is quite similar to the scene described by the author in the Song of Yuntai in Xiyue: "Genie (river god) roared and broke two mountains (referring to Huashan in Hexi and shouyangshan in Hedong), and Hongbo sprayed into the East China Sea." But the former is hidden and the latter is obvious. In the author's pen, the Chu River seems to be a thing with strong vitality, showing the magical power to overcome all obstacles, and Tianmen Mountain seems to quietly make way for it.
The second sentence, "Higashi Shimizu flows to this back", in turn focuses on the binding force and reaction of Tianmen Mountain, which is confronted by Jiajiang, to the surging Chu River. Because two mountains are sandwiched in the middle, the vast Yangtze River flows through the narrow passage between the two mountains, causing a whirlpool and forming a choppy spectacle. If the last sentence is written by the mountain, then this sentence is the adventure of the mountain to the water potential. Some notebooks "return here" as "straight north", and the interpreter thought that the Yangtze River flowing eastward turned north in this area. This may be a fine explanation of the flow direction of the Yangtze River, but it is not a poem, nor can it show the momentum of Tianmen. Compare the Song of Xi Yue Yuntai Sending Dan Qiu Zi: "Xi Yue is magnificent! The Yellow River is like a silk sky. The Wan Li of the Yellow River touches the mountain, and the vortex hub turns to Qin Mine. " "Vortex", that is, "Higashi Shimizu flows to this back", also depicts the scene that the rivers in Wan Li are stopped by Qifeng. The quatrains are simple and implicit, unlike the seven ancient poems written incisively and vividly.
"The green hills on both sides of the strait are opposite, and the sails are alone." These two sentences are an inseparable whole. The first sentence describes the majestic appearance of the two mountains seen by Tianmen and Wang, while the second sentence reminds Wang of his foothold and shows the poet's dripping joy. The poet is not standing somewhere on the shore overlooking Tianmen Mountain, but his foothold is a "lone sail" coming from Japan. Most people who read this poem appreciate the word "Chu" because it brings dynamic beauty to the motionless mountain, but seldom consider why the poet feels "Chu". If you stand on a fixed foothold on the shore, "looking at Tianmen Mountain in the distance" will probably only produce a static feeling of "the green hills on both sides of the strait are opposite". On the contrary, the ship sailed down the river, looking at Tianmen and two distant mountains, showing an increasingly clear posture, and this feeling of "green mountains on both sides of the strait are opposite" is very prominent. The word "Chu" not only vividly shows the unique gesture of "overlooking Tianmen Mountain" when taking a boat tour, but also contains the fresh and pleasant feeling of the people on board. Tianmen Mountain, facing the Jiajiang River, seems to be coming towards itself, expressing its welcome to the visitors from the river.
Since Qingshan is so affectionate to distant guests, they should be more cheerful. The Lonely Sail Comes from the Sun vividly depicts the scene that the lonely sail braves the wind and waves and gets closer and closer to Tianmen Mountain. The poet is happy to see the beautiful scenery of the famous mountain. It seems to contain such a subtext: the majestic and steep Tianmen Mountain, a long-distance traveler riding a solitary sail, finally met you today.
Because the last sentence is full of the poet's passion in the narrative, this poem highlights the poet's self-image while depicting the magnificent scenery of Tianmen Mountain. To get to the point, that poem should be called "Looking at Tianmen Mountain with a Boat".